A Fairytale Without A Fairy
by Melanie Malachite
Summary: When four very different girls come together at the prestigious fighting school for Hunters and Huntresses in training, they soon find out that they are, in fact, quite similar. Blake and her new teammates are the only ones who remember the way things were. But can four socially awkward girls change anything? Blake? Agatha? Homura? Tomoko? Not likely.
1. Fairytale Beginnings

Early to bed, early to rise, makes one healthy, wealthy, and wise. Blake had always believed in this little saying, so she was almost always to bed at a decent time and awake early in the morning. Always awake before her teammates. She slowly sat up in bed and pushed her covers aside. She looked around in the dark for a moment before stepping out onto the floor between the beds.

For a moment, she just stood there. She knew something was different right away, but it didn't really hit her. She glanced behind her and spotted the obvious difference. The curtain had been either mended or replaced, most likely the latter. She silently thanked Weiss for finally getting Ruby to clean up that mess. She turned and looked up at the clock, seeing that it was indeed very early. Deciding that this meant she had time to relax and read a book, she knelt down to the bookshelf to pick something out.

She stared at the bookshelf for a few moments before it hit her. She looked back up at her bed, which was now properly attached to Yang's, then back at the bookshelf. All the books that had held up Yang's bed were back on the shelf. She wasn't sure how her teammates had accomplished this without her hearing, but she was glad her books were back where they belonged.

But there were other books on the shelf. She looked over them, recognizing the books, but not as anything she or her teammates owned. Her books filled the entire right side of the shelf, but the top left corner was a row of fairytale books. She shrugged, figuring Ruby had gotten some new books. The bottom left was, as she found out, a small collection of manga. She rolled her eyes at the thought of Weiss reading those, then smiled.

Standing up again, she looked down at the top of the bookshelf. Something else was off, but it took her a short while to realize what. There was something out of place. She reached out her hand, her desire for a book to read forgotten, and picked up the object she felt was not familiar. It was a little square of paper.

Picking up the paper, she turned it over in her hand and found it to be a picture. The subject of the picture was an ugly, nasty-looking hairless cat with cruel eyes. Giving a small shudder, she placed the picture back face-down.

Her hand wandered over to the object nearest the picture and picked it up. Her eyes widened when she saw that it was also out of place. It was a portable game system. She hadn't known any of her teammates owned such a thing, but she found herself less and less surprised the more she thought about it. She had gone to sleep extra early last night, so perhaps they had gone into town and bought some things. It would explain the curtains, the books, and the game. She put the game down again, feeling that something still didn't make sense.

On the other end of the shelf, next to her bed and Yang's, there was a pair of glasses. She gasped. None of her teammates needed glasses, so far as she knew. It quickly crossed her mind that, if they had gone into town, one of them may have gotten the glasses. She could imagine Yang, seeing whose bed it was nearest to, not wanting to tell her team about needing glasses before she had to.

Calming down, she turned and took in the rest of the room to see if they had changed anything else while she was asleep. Her eyes went wide with sudden shock. Everything was different. Unbelievably different. Ruby and Weiss' beds were attached in a sane and normal way, exactly the same as Blake's and Yang's, but that was the least of it.

Weiss' pile of luggage was gone. Yang's posters that had covered the walls were missing. Even the mirror on the nightstand was gone from its place, and that was Beacon property. The only thing that was still where it was supposed to be was Ruby's whistle, hanging from a nail beside the door.

Panicking, Blake jumped up to look at Yang. The girl sleeping in the top bunk had wrapped herself totally in her blanket, disappearing from view. Blake hopped over to Ruby, putting her feet on the edge of Weiss' bed to pull herself up. Messy sheets covered the snoring figure of a young girl, and the recognizable kitty pillow was being held tight to her face.

Calm again, Blake finally stepped down and leaned into Weiss' sleeping area. The girl was sleeping, only half covered by her blanket, her face stuffed into the cushion. She snored loudly, her hair spread wildly around her head in a splatter-like pattern.

Black hair.

Blake jumped up again, looking onto Ruby's bed. She reached in and grabbed a few locks of hair, lifting it up to inspect. Not red. Black. She clamored over to Yang's bed and pulled the blanket off of her teammate.

Long black hair.

She did the only sensible thing there was to do.

Three girls jumped up, startled awake at the sound of a whistle. The one in Weiss' bed hit her head on Ruby's bed. The one in Ruby's bed hit her head on the ceiling. The one in Yang's bed hit her head on the floor. Blake waited for the inevitable responses from her teammates. She waited for Yang's mildly annoyed, but sheepishly embarrassed chuckle. She waited for Ruby's pained high-pitched groan. She waited for Weiss' indignant 'how dare you!' to reach her ears.

All she got was three lazy whimpers, nearly identical, as the girls lined up between the beds. She looked at their faces, recognizing not a single one of them. Not only was this not her team, but she had never seen any of them in her life. She reached behind her and flicked on the lights. The three girls all reacted to the light in much the same way, covering their eyes and grumbling mutinously.

But they were looking to her. Waiting for her to speak. Blake addressed the bed invaders. "Alright, pop quiz! Who are you and why are you here?" Her nose twitched, and she looked over the girls. They all had one thing in common. "You all need a bath."

* * *

><p>After a much-needed bath, and as Blake found out it was for all four of them, the girls sat about the room. Ruby's bed invader sat on Weiss' bed, beside Weiss' own bed invader. These two looked particularly dejected, tired, and unkempt. The girl that had been in Yang's bed, now wearing her glasses and busy tying her hair in two long braids, sat in a chair at the foot of Blake's bed. She had been the cleanest of the four, and as it turned out, was only dirty apparently because of spending so much time with the others.<p>

Blake, glad to be clean, sat on top of the bookshelf. She took a deep breath. "Okay, let's start with who you are and where my teammates went. Anyone care to explain?"

The two girls on the bed exchanged worried glances. The taller of the two, Ruby's bed invader, with straight hair shorter than any of the others', spoke up meekly. Her voice was hoarse. "Look, Blake, we know you're mad, but it wasn't our fault."

Blake silenced her by simply crossing her arms, then eyed her dangerously. "And how, pray tell, is it not your fault?"

The girl, whose already pale skin turned paler, fumbled for an answer. "We- well, we tried... um, we tried our best, didn't we?"

Blake shook her head. "That doesn't count for anything. If you were going to fail so horribly, why did you even try? Who do you think you are, and what are you even doing in Beacon?"

She stood up, pleading with Blake. "Blake, calm down. We'll do better next time. I promise!"

Blake stood up to meet her, realizing that she was noticeably taller than the three strange girls. "There won't be a next time! You three are leaving this instant!"

They all stared at her, shocked into silence, slowly shrinking away from her. The girl in the chair at the back spoke quietly. "We're still just students. You can't expect us to take on Roman Torchwick and the White Fang all at once."

Blake stopped, her next words getting caught in her throat. They had thought she was talking about... their performance in battle? The dust robbery. It had been just last night, but she had fought it with Sun and Penny. Ruby had been there, but she hadn't gotten into the fight. Weiss and Yang weren't even there until it was all over. But these girls remembered differently. They remembered fighting with her.

None of this made sense.

She closed her eyes. "Who... are you?" There was silence. They were staring at her, trying to figure out why she would ask them that question.

Eventually, the girl standing in front of her answered. "I'm, uh..." She looked worried that Blake hadn't been asking for their names, but said it anyways. "Agatha."

Blake looked to the girl in the chair, who looked down and answered quietly. "Homura."

When Blake looked to the last girl, she saw her trembling, squeaking to herself. The girl standing, Agatha, pointed at the last girl and answered for her. "And that's Tomoko. Blake, you..." Their eyes met, and the girl gasped. "You don't remember us at all?"

* * *

><p>The next hour passed with Blake sitting on her bed in a trance, listening to the story of her time at Beacon told in a way that went against everything she thought she knew. She soon learned that she was the leader of a team of social misfits, awkward girls who either hated themselves or others or both. Tomoko and Agatha were partners, having smashed into each other and crashing to the ground in a heap at initiation. Blake's first encounter with Yang had happened just as she remembered, only the blond had already met up with a partner. Homura showed up as soon as they parted ways.<p>

She also learned about the other girls. She found out that, while they were all socially inept, Tomoko was by far the worst. She wasn't even able to speak when confronted with her own team most of the time. She also learned that, while they all held disdain towards their peers, Agatha at least acted like she hated every living person. However, when not talking about her, Blake caught glimpses of hidden care in the girl's face. And then there was Homura, who was fairly well off compared to the others. She kept herself tidy, healthy, confident, and cordial. She just tended to fidget nervously a fair amount of the time.

By the time Blake looked up and saw the clock showing that it was nearly time for classes, they were all wearing their school uniforms and prepared to... sit at the very back of each class, hoping no one would notice them. Agatha was terrible at most of the work in class, Homura spent most her time staring into space, and Tomoko was terrified of Professor Port. Well, to be fair, Tomoko was terrified of everyone.

Blake absently listened to her teammates explain how things had played out, but sat up suddenly at the sound of a name she recognized. Weiss Schnee. She waved frantically at Homura to stop talking, then pressed her for answers. "What happened with Weiss?"

Homura and Agatha exchanged glances, confused. Homura shrugged. "Um... she volunteered to fight a Boarbatusk in Professor Port's class. She actually did pretty well. She'd have done better if her teammates hadn't been shouting such distracting things the whole time."

Agatha snorted. "That girl with the cape is so obnoxious sometimes..."

Blake jumped up. "You mean Ruby?"

They looked at each other again, then back to her and shook their heads. Homura stopped and held up her hand. "Wait, are you talking about Roby Rose?" Blake nodded. Homura slouched. "Geez, you haven't been paying much attention. That girl is on a totally different team. I mean, at least Weiss' team is pleasant to look at. Ruby Rose has two of the most horrendous teammates at this school."

Blake dropped back onto her bed, hitting her head on Homura's bed. Not Yang's bed. Homura's. She leaned forward and buried her face in her hands. "This is all wrong. So much is just wrong about all this. It's not supposed to be like this at all."

Agatha sighed. "...yeah... we know."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note: This is a four-way crossover between RWBY and The School For Good And Evil, plus Puella Magi Madoka Magica, with Watamote. Starring Blake, Agatha, Homura, and Tomoko respectively. Unfortunately, due to the site's limit of only tagging a story for two series at once, I've decided on The School For Good And Evil. Beacon and Vale is the setting, so RWBY is primary. I hope you enjoy the story, and don't forget to read <em>and<em> review. God bless you, have a nice day, and don't do drugs.**


	2. Changing Of The Guards

Blake walked to her first class, her team lagging behind her like a line of moodiness. As she had learned, they merely tolerated each other. None of them actually liked any of their teammates, nor did they fancy the notion of getting any closer. That said, they sure knew how to stick together. There was no one else to stand up for them, so they had learned to stand up for each other.

She had also found out that her teammates were well aware that this was not how things were supposed to be. They weren't from Remnant, and they all wanted to go home, but they didn't know how they had even gotten here. They hadn't had time to explain further, as their classes started in only a few minutes, but apparently they had all tried to convince Blake of this ever since they met and she had never believed them. Well, she believed them now.

Most curiously, she had learned that people from each of their worlds had also come with them and been integrated into the world around them as part of Remnant. None of these people remembered anything about where they were all supposed to be. She found herself wondering what kinds of teammates Ruby, Weiss, and Yang had found themselves faced with, and if they would remember their old life at all.

Walking into their first class of the day, they walked up the side of the classroom and were generally ignored by everyone. There were plenty of students that Blake recognized, but a fair number were unknown to her. In the end it came down to one thing. Her team would now be focusing on finding out a way to set everything right.

They sat at the back of the class, watching and waiting silently. It was the first class, so Blake was expecting Professor Port. Instead, when the doors opened, in walked a snaky-looking man in a cool black suit. Spiky green hair poked out from under his gentleman's hat, and his bright yellow eyes searched the seats. His eyes landed on Blake, and she stiffened.

He turned to the chalk board behind him and started drawing something, beginning his lecture. "Grimm. Creatures of evil and darkness. They exist for the singular purpose of destroying everything good."

Beside Blake, Agatha also stiffened. She leaned over, whispering to Blake. "I'll be honest with you. This guy creeps me out. He just feels... evil."

Blake kept her voice equally low. "Yet here he is talking to us about how evil the Grimm are."

The teacher continued unabated. "They are our polar opposites. We are good, and they are evil. Light and dark. Right and wrong. Life and death. Love and hate."

Blake leaned a bit closer to Agatha. "I take it there aren't Grimm in your world. This must be a little strange to you."

Agatha nodded. "A little, though it's all a bit familiar. Too familiar, in fact. Who even is this guy? He's not our normal teacher." She shook her head. "But that good and evil stuff is just... reminds me of home."

The teacher turned around, his drawing complete. It depicted a city, it's walls crumbling under the might of a giant monster with a multitude of ugly heads snapping spiked teeth at the air. He smiled. "What separates us from them? We have a soul. They do not."

On the other end of the row, Blake noticed Homura flinch. Something the teacher had said hit her, but Blake wasn't sure what. Perhaps it was the drawing instead. Blake looked back at the chalk drawing, trying to make heads or tails of it. There were no tails, she grimaced, only heads.

A calm smile from the strange new teacher did nothing but make the entire class uncomfortable. He took off his hat, uncovering his green hair, and held it to his chest politely. "Good morning, class. Due to Professor Ozpin's unexpected and sudden retirement as headmaster here at Beacon, we are under new management. Thankfully, he left us with a good, strong replacement. I hope you'll make me feel welcome."

Blake shot a surprised look at her team, only to see them looking to her with equally shocked faces. If Ozpin was gone, then there was absolutely no one who might understand their situation. Ozpin was the only person she could think of who would ever even accept such a far-fetched story as a possibility.

The man placed his hat back on his head. "Now, I hope you'll also welcome all the new faculty members, as most of the teachers you are used to decided to step down with Ozpin. Do not be alarmed. There are always teachers waiting for openings here, so there are enough new ones to fill the gap left behind. I will be giving a reorientation class for you this morning. The other teachers are giving the same to the other classes as I speak. Tomorrow, all your classes will introduce you to your new teachers, and this class will be back to what you are familiar with. Peter Port is one of the few who stayed, so you should have no problems there."

He may have said more, but Blake zoned out. She was trying to figure out what was going on, and it was beginning to drive her up the wall. Time passed, with only the echoes of his voice reaching her ears, and nothing sinking in. The thing that finally snapped her out of her trance was Agatha shoving her shoulder to push Blake out of her seat. Blake stood up and glared down at her teammate.

Agatha pointed down at the exit to the room, where Blake saw students leaving. The new headmaster was handing out copies of something on paper. Everyone else was lined up at the door, waiting to leave. Blake started down toward the front, her team trailing behind her. They were last in line, so there was no one waiting after them. Blake stopped in front of the man and accepted the paper, seeing that it was their new schedule, including all the new teachers' names. She pulled three more out of his hand and passed them back to her team, then turned to the man and, surprising her team, spoke to him.

"Did Professor Ozpin say anything about why he was retiring?"

The man gave a smile that she sensed was both sincere and sinister. "Not in the slightest, but I could venture a few guesses, however right they may prove." Blake grumbled and made to leave, but the man stopped her, eying her team. "I've been wanting to ask you girls how you were settling in here at Beacon and if there was anything we could do to make your stay better."

Agatha looked away. "If you ask me, everyone here is stuck up and delusional."

Homura glared at the wall behind him. "We're being trained to fight people, and then we're going to be sent out to fight monsters."

Tomoko just stared at the floor.

He just raised his hand, closing his eyes. "All that, I understand. Those are some of the things I plan on changing around here. In fact, those two problems are possibly quite linked. Fighting each other may well be what is causing rifts between students. Learning to deal with not only the size of Grimm, but also the mentality, is undoubtedly something we need our students to learn." He winked at Blake. "But I meant this Beacon in particular."

Blake took a step back. "Wait, what do you-"

He took a step forward. "What I mean is that I want to know how you are dealing with your new surroundings. Surely it must be strange to you all."

Blake narrowed her eyes at him. "What do you know about all this?"

He tipped his hat to the girls and stepped out the door. "Come see me after classes." A few steps later, he stopped and looked over his shoulder at the girls. "Professor Ozpin retired because he couldn't help you girls set things straight. I can help you."

With that, he was gone.

* * *

><p>The four girls sat alone at a table in the corner of the dining hall. The surrounding tables were devoid of students, though the rest of the room was packed. It was lunch break, but the girls were busy recuperating from their last class. It had been a tough physical routine. Needless to say, Blake and Homura had done well, but Tomoko and Agatha were hardly prepared for it.<p>

Agatha rolled her neck, groaning in pain. "Mister Shishigami is just horrible."

Homura nodded. "Scruffy old man wanted me to get rid of my braids."

Tomoko rested her head on the table in front of her, letting out the first cohesive sentence Blake had heard from her. "Old people are scary."

Blake sighed, exasperated. "He wasn't that old, and neither was he all that scruffy. I actually liked his class, although I think he misunderstands a lot of things about ninjas. Anyway, you two need to boost your strength. Especially you, Tomoko."

Tomoko looked up at her. "I hope next period is easier. Who do we have next?"

Blake pulled out the schedule, thinking about why Tomoko would suddenly be talking so much more freely. All she could think of was that the girl was just far too tired to be nervous. She looked at the schedule, reading down their next classes. "Hmm... next we have... a class on healing? Well, that's a good one. Don't remember having one of those before. Let's see... Doctor Faye-Ling."

Homura unfolded her own schedule, mouth full of cheesecake. "Letsh shee." She swallowed. "After that we have sparring with... Oooh, this guy was in the military. _Major_ Kisuragi. Bet he knows what he's doing. And then it's on to a science class with a Professor Kokonoe. I hope these people are as impressive as they sound."

Agatha shrugged. "At least Mister Shishigami was impressive. I'll give him that." She nodded. "Maybe they're all good."

Homura just shook her head. "But we're still sparring. Seriously, how does sparring help us fight Grimm? We need to learn how to fight something that is bigger than us, is shaped differently from us, and won't stop coming until either we're dead or they are. Threat of death means nothing to them."

Tomoko raised her head just enough to turn it to face Homura. "When exactly does that make a difference?"

Homura hit her fist on the table. "It makes a difference every time the sparring match stops when someone's aura gets low. A Grimm wouldn't stop there, no matter which end of the fight it was on. Beaten down and almost defeated, a Grimm will charge you with the same conviction as it would at the beginning of the fight. And do you really think a Grimm would stop just because your aura is low."

Tomoko shifted her position until she was facing straight down, her face hidden under her hair. "Let them charge me."

Agatha blinked at her, then shook her head. "I can never tell if you're just that confident or just that suicidal."

Blake was trying to think of how to address Tomoko when something hit her in the back of her head. She turned and looked down on the ground, spotting a crumpled up piece of paper. She glared into the rest of the room, searching for the aggressor.

There, a couple tables away, a girl stood crumpling another piece of paper, grinning wickedly. She pulled her hand back to throw it, but a tall boy grabbed her arm and pulled her down into her seat. Blake watched the team for a few moments before she realized who she was looking at. She didn't know the girl who had thrown the paper, nor did she know the two boys, but she'd recognize Ruby's red cape anywhere.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note: Tada! BlazBlue characters as well. Next time, we meet Ruby's team, Weiss' team, and Yang's team. The serious humor will start then, I promise.<strong>


	3. A Clockwork Ceiling

It had started with a balled up piece of paper. It had very quickly escalated to an all out war in the dining hall, causing most of the students to flee outdoors. Now the twelve students, from four different teams, stood in the headmaster's office. They had already endured several minutes of lecturing from a stern teacher with pink hair and two cat tails, and were prepared for an hour more from their new headmaster. One thing was for sure; that food fight would be the talk of the school for weeks.

The green-haired headmaster waited for the stern teacher to close the door on her way out before addressing the students in front of him. As soon as she was gone, the room's mood changed. He stood up and let out an amused laugh. "That was quite the tale, and I'm sure I haven't heard all of it."

Blake looked over to her teammates, wondering if she should be the one to respond. Ruby's entire team was also present, having been the other ones responsible for starting the fight in the first place. Two girls that Blake had found out were on Weiss' team were there as well, Weiss and their other teammate having abandoned them and the dining hall as soon as the food began to fly. Finally, there was Yang and a strange boy that was one of her new teammates. The other two on their team had also fled after the first pie was tossed.

Remembering that pie, Blake absently pulled at her hair to get rid of any of the whipped cream that was still there. She realized that no one else was saying anything, so she took the lead. "So... you're not angry?"

He laughed again. "Angry? What is there to be angry about? No one was hurt, nothing irreparable, irreplaceable, or expensive was destroyed, and the mess is being cleaned up this very moment."

The red-haired girl from Weiss' team spoke next. "Someone's cleaning all that up? What poor loser got stuck with that job?"

The headmaster looked ready to ignore her, and Homura quickly gave him a good excuse to. She raised her hand. "If it's really not a big deal, then why was the professor so upset?"

He smiled genuinely. "Kokonoe is just a little sore about it, since she has to deal without her assistant until it's all cleaned up."

* * *

><p>In the dining hall, a large and heavily-muscled man with red skin was gripping the handlebars on a floor buffer, a dulled expression of boredom on his face. Two girls watched him, seated on the tables he had stacked at the back of the room.<p>

One of the girls, her blond hair done up in pigtails with black bows that made her look like a rabbit, chided the man. "Oh, you poor thing. You must be blind, to have missed a spot as scuffed as that."

The other girl, her face hidden under a hood that only showed bright red eyes and a sharp-toothed smile, giggled at the other girl's mockery. "Nyah ha ha! And don't forget to clean the windows too! Scrub, scrub, scrub! Meow!"

The man just shook his head and spoke under his breath. "What did I ever do to deserve this?"

* * *

><p>"So..." He continued, sitting back down in his chair. "We do need to make sure something like this doesn't happen again. It really isn't a matter of destruction as it is a minor detriment to your learning. While you can display your control over your power in a fight like that, it serves very well to show that you lack control over yourselves."<p>

Ruby looked into his eyes, as if she already trusted him fully. "So... we're not in trouble?"

He shook his head. "Not even remotely. I just need you all to give your word no more fighting of this nature will occur."

Ruby nodded enthusiastically. "Understood. No more food fights. You can count on me."

He smiled and turned to the rest of Ruby's team. "And what about you?"

The tall blond boy, who had managed to keep his calm composure through everything, nodded quickly. "Yes sir."

The scraggly, unkempt boy beside him shrugged. "Eh, whatever..."

The pale white-haired girl at the end grumbled something unintelligible.

Ozpin's replacement sighed, leaning back in his chair. "That'll have to do, I suppose. You four may go." Three of them were up and rushing for the door as soon as they had permission. The taller boy walked out behind them, refusing to let his teammates' poor discipline get to him. Blake noticed Agatha watching him as he went. The headmaster turned to Yang and her teammate. "How about you two, then? Hmm?"

Yang shrugged. "Yeah, sure. I can do that." She looked to the boy standing beside her, and a moment later everyone else in the room was staring at him, waiting for him to answer. He just stood there, obliviously gazing up into the slowly spinning gears overhead. Yang elbowed him, snapping him back to attention. "Kikuchiyo!"

He staggered back and glared at her. "Geez, you don't have to be painful about it." He turned to the man seated at the desk. "Yes, okay? No more infighting. Got it. Less people I have to deal with. But can I ask what the heck is up with this ceiling?"

Shaking his head, the new headmaster just pointed to the door at the other end of the room. "No, you may not. You two can go now." Yang shrugged to her teammate, and they both headed out of the room. The man then turned to the other two girls. "Sayaka and Kyoko, was it?"

They didn't even give him enough time to ask, simply nodding. The red-haired girl answered first. "No more fighting. We got our punishment, so can we go?"

The other girl, her hair a bright shade of blue, clasped her hands behind her back. "We'll be good. Promise. No more trips to this office. Also promise."

He sighed and shook his head again. "Fair enough. Go on."

Blake watched them go, noting that they kept giving furtive glances at the ceiling. She turned back to the man behind the desk. "They got their punishment? Is there something about this room that's really so unnerving?"

Homura looked up, then looked back down rather quickly. "I'd say so. It's sorta freaking me out too."

Tomoko looked up, for the first time since they entered the room, and ducked down when she saw the clockwork above them. "Holy... woah."

The man just sighed. "Yes, well... I didn't put it there. To tell the truth, I find it rather disturbing as well. But, as it turns out, it actually has a purpose."

Agatha gave him the skeptical response they were all thinking. "What in the world could that be?"

He stood up, explaining with a bit of a laugh. "Well, this tower does happen to have a fairly large clock on the front." He watched them, waiting for them to add two and two.

A moment later, the four girls chorused together. "Oooohhh..."

He smiled. "Anyways, I trust you girls know better than to start any more fights around the school, be they serious or benign in nature."

Blake nodded. "Yes sir, we do."

He sat down again, closing his eyes contentedly. "Good. I may not have taken this position with the goal of running the school in mind, but I do intend to at least play the part right. That means any further fighting won't be so easy to wiggle out of. Oh, and please, just call me Hazama."

Agatha let out her breath, though Blake wasn't sure when she had started holding it. "Okay, Hazama, so tell me this. Is there anything we should or shouldn't do in regards to getting back home. In particular, I'm thinking if there's anything we really shouldn't do if we ever want to see our lives return to normal. Got any pointers?"

He seemed to give it genuine thought before answering. "Well, now that you mention it, it might be best if you avoid dying."

Blake rubbed an itch on her nose, trying to cover up that she was rolling her eyes. "We... we normally do that."

"Speak for yourself." Blake glanced over at her team, but she had absolutely no idea which one had said that.

Hazama pulled his hat down to cover his face. "Well, anyway, it's nearly time that your next class begins, so you had best be on your way. I have other matters to attend to, so we'll talk more in-depth on this subject after classes." He then promptly began his siesta.

The girls glanced back and forth between each other and their snoozing headmaster for a few moments before they all quietly decided upon the best course of action. They left the room, stepping into the elevator. None of them spoke until the door closed.

Agatha placed her hand on the control panel and dragged her fingers down it, causing all the buttons to light up. She stepped back, smiling, but stopped when she saw her teammates staring at her. She looked back at all the lit buttons. "Uh... yeah, so, about that. There's not really much in the way of this technology... stuff... where I come from, so you'll excuse me for wanting to enjoy it for what it is while I'm here."

They stood in silence for the next minute and a half as the elevator stopped at every floor, the doors opening and showing them parts of Beacon none of them ever thought about. Every few floors there would be a person who gave them a confused look just before the doors closed again, and every time Homura and Blake would point accusingly at Agatha just to let the person know which one of them had pressed all the buttons. Tomoko just hid in the back corner, out of sight from everyone they saw on the way down.

Finally, at ground floor, it ended. The doors opened, Blake let out an irritated sigh, and three girls stepped out into the hallway. Blake glanced back into the elevator to see Homura frantically pressing all of the buttons again. She hopped out just as the doors closed, and the elevator headed back up on its long journey to the top.

She flicked her hair as she walked past her disbelieving teammates. "No one will ever know."

Some unfortunate soul happened to get on the elevator at its very next stop, intending to go down a floor and only realizing what they had gotten themselves into after the doors closed. Her face was a shade redder each floor the doors opened and she didn't get off. At the top, when the doors opened, Hazama greeted her.

"Ah, Kiko, how nice to see you again. Oh, when was it? When I filled in for Professor Sader for a week at your last school, wasn't it?"

She turned the final shade of red, pressing the button for the floor she had originally wanted and closing the doors.

Meanwhile, down on the ground floor, Blake led her team to their next class. "Okay, so this one shouldn't be so hard. It's about healing, medicine, and stuff like that. Very useful if your aura runs low and you're out alone in the wild. Should be a nice and peaceful class too."

She opened the door just in time to see Cardin Winchester slam into the floor. He groaned in pain, trying to push himself up, but collapsed. A dark-haired woman in an elaborate red dress pressed a staff against his back, pinning him. She smiled warmly to the girls.

"Hello there. Please, take your seats and we'll begin." She waited for them to be seated, and then began the lesson with a kind smile on her face. "Alright, now that our patient is amply wounded, it's time to apply some medicinal talent. Who here knows how to properly set a broken leg?"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: I was originally going to have Weiss, her other teammate, and yang's other two teammates in this chapter, but that was just too many darn people. I eliminated four people who seemed, in this situation, less inclined to get into a food fight. Yes, that's Sayaka Miki and Kyoko Sakura. Weiss' teammates are Puella Magi Madoka Magica characters. And Ruby's teammates are Anadil, Hort, and Tedros from School For Good And Evil. Yang's teammates are from Watamote, plus Kikuchiyo Kurosawa who is an OC created by my very very good friend Gabrhil. Kikuchiyo has already shown up in both Watamote and RWBY fics Gabrhil has made himself. Go read him. He's great.<strong>

**And unofficially, the teams are BAKA, RATH, MWSC, and KYYK.**


	4. Engarde!

Blake looked down the sights on Gambol Shroud, checking to make sure everything was in line. She looked up at her team, who were busy with their own weapons. "So, remind me again, which of you idiots got us into this?"

Homura raised her hand. "I volunteered our team for this. It's okay, I know most of the people on the team we're up against."

Blake nodded. "Right, okay, you take them. The three of us will go after Weiss."

Homura nearly dropped the gun she was stuffing into the shield-like item fastened to her arm. "What? I can't take all three of them."

Blake smiled. "Then maybe next time you won't volunteer us for a fight against people we don't know."

Agatha stepped in before it could go any farther. "I have an idea. Homura, you be the judge of who should go after who."

Blake shrugged. "Alright, that works. But I know how Weiss fights, and this version of her, I'm guessing, doesn't know how I fight."

Agatha sighed. "Okay. So, Homura, who will you be taking?"

Homura headed for the exit, talking over her shoulder to her teammates. "Mami is probably the strongest, but Kyoko and Sayaka are far from weak." She stopped and turned around, looking her team up and down. "Come to think of it, any one of them is probably stronger than any one of us. We're going to have to rely on being smarter, which shouldn't be too hard with Kyoko and Sayaka." She stopped when Tomoko pulled her weapon from her locker. "What in God's name is that?"

Tomoko looked down at the pair of buster cannons. "Uh... this is my very expensive battering ram."

Homura shook her head. "Okay, I got it. Sayaka is a blind rusher, so I'm best suited to take her. Agatha should fight Kyoko, because her weakness would be a strong mage. Tomoko, and I'm sorry, but the only way to combat Mami's strength and intelligence is to offset her with something..." She held out her hand to indicate Tomoko's weapon. "...completely insane and idiotic. She's your target."

Tomoko took a deep breath. "Uhm... this is kind of a one shot deal."

Blake eyed the weapon. "I can imagine it'd be hard to cart a lot of ammo around."

Agatha laughed. "Yeah... well, okay, I was thinking it would just be because it takes too long to recharge, but yours makes more sense."

Tomoko shook her head. "No, it's just... it'll probably launch me backwards into the wall so hard I'll be out. It'll take just about anyone it hits with me, but..."

Blake clapped her hands together and stood up. "Then it's settled. Aim for Mommy."

"Mami." Homura corrected.

"Gesundheit." Blake ignored Homura's frown. "Well, too late to call it off. Win or lose, let's do this." They walked to the door together, and Blake stopped them just before they walked out for the amphitheater. "Hey, this has been bugging me. What's our team name? Like, what order do we go in?"

Agatha sighed, and pointed to each of them in turn. "It goes you, me, Tomoko, and then Homura."

Blake looked at them all in the same order. "Does... what's our team name?"

They all stared at her, confused. Homura nodded, understanding. "Team names. Right. Those are the unofficial names the individual teams go by."

Blake held up her hand to stop her. "No, they're official. Ozpin gives each team a name."

Homura looked to Agatha, who just shrugged helplessly. She sighed and explained. "It sounds like that's something from the original time-line that didn't carry over. None of the team names here are official. As for our team... Tomoko and myself use our last names."

Blake just shook her head slightly. "I don't know... what those are."

Agatha rolled her eyes and started walking away. "Well, everyone is waiting for us to go out there and get creamed, so we might as well get this over with. Let's go already."

Without another word, Homura followed her. Blake shrugged and moved to follow them, but a thought occurred to her. "Hey, Homura. I don't know which one is which. I mean, I'll know Weiss when I see her, but you lost me on the other three."

Homura glanced back at her. "Okay, it's easy to remember. Sayaka is the blue one. Kyoko is the red one. Mami is the yellow one. That's how I keep them straight."

Blake nodded, recording everything in her mind. "Weapons and semblance?"

They were walking down the hallway to the amphitheater. Homura's voice echoed off the walls as they went. "Mami uses an array of rifles primarily, though she may have something considerably bigger up her sleeve, and her semblance involves some sort of yellow ribbon thing. I haven't gotten a chance to see what semblance the other two have, but I'd be willing to bet Sayaka can heal remarkably fast either way. Sayaka uses swords. Like cutlasses, I think. Kyoko just has a big spear."

Tomoko hoisted her weapon. "So which one am I aiming for?"

Blake answered over her shoulder. "The yellow one with the guns."

Ahead of them, Homura shoved the doors open. The other team was waiting for them on the far side of the arena. All their classmates were seated above them, watching to see what would happen. Blake had the feeling no one expected them to win. She looked over to Agatha and Tomoko. They were wearing casual clothes, and Agatha had added a black jacket to her simple shirt and pants while Tomoko wore shorts instead.

Blake stepped over to them. "You sure you want to be fighting wearing that?"

Agatha shook her head, but answered positively. "Better than wearing a dress."

Blake blinked, surprised. "Who's wearing a dress?"

Agatha pointed across the arena at the team they were facing. "All of them. And Homura."

Blake couldn't help but laugh. "Ah, those would be combat skirts."

Agatha stared at her, nonplussed. "What?"

Blake waved her hand, turning away. "Never mind. You're right. They look silly."

At the edge of the arena, a tall blond man in a blue uniform glared at the four girls over his glasses. "Now that you've finally decided to join us, perhaps we could begin the match. Does this... fit into your seemingly busy schedule?"

The laughing stopped, and Blake answered quickly. Unfortunately, she had been anticipating a question about whether or not it would be a problem, so that's what she answered. "No sir." It took her a moment to catch up with herself and what exactly the question had really been, their audience stifling giggles the whole while. "I mean, yes! Yes sir! We're ready!"

He grimaced, but turned back to his scroll. "Begin."

Homura launched into action immediately, targeting the blue-haired girl with the cutlass just like she had said. Before Blake and the other two could even start to move in, Kyoko jumped forward and spun her spear in the air. The flat of the head came down on Homura, flooring her. Jumping over her downed opponent, Kyoko charged headlong after the rest of them.

Blake had realized too late that Homura had been counting on the rest of them to move in at the same time. She had to think of something else to do, and her thoughts turned to Tomoko's weapon. "Agatha, help me brace Tomoko!"

The other two chorused a panicked "What?!" even as Blake grabbed Tomoko's shoulders from behind. Agatha, still not knowing what they were doing, got behind Blake.

Kyoko was speeding towards them too fast and was already too close to stop or dodge. Blake shouted in Tomoko's ear. "FIRE!"

A blinding light and scorching heat filled the arena, causing Mami and Sayaka to shield their faces. The three girls were hurled backward, but not nearly as fast as if they hadn't been bracing for the shot. Blake looked up to see the damage they had caused. Homura lifted her head and glared up at her team, conveying well the message that she had not appreciated how close the shot had come to hitting her.

Blake staggered onto her feet, not sure how much of a toll that kickback had taken on her aura. Across the arena, Kyoko fell off of the wall and landed face down on the floor. Then Weiss fell out of the wall and landed on top of her teammate. The class' teacher called out from the relative safety of the corner of the room.

"Weiss Schnee and Kyoko Sakura, your auras have dropped below critical levels. Withdraw or continue. Your choice."

Weiss mumbled something dizzily. "Did anyone catch the number on that train?"

Kyoko shoved the young heiress off of her and stood up. She wobbled a bit, but quickly steadied herself. "I'm still in."

Blake reached down and put her hand on Agatha's shoulder, shaking her to get her attention. "We need a new plan."

Agatha jumped up and drew her weapon, a short sword. "Right. New plan. I got one. Don't give them a chance to breath." She charged forward, and Blake followed right behind her.

Agatha split away and headed after Mami, while Blake ran straight for Sayaka. Homura jumped up in front of Kyoko, blocking her from returning to the battle. Tomoko stood up and hauled her massive weapon off the ground, heaving it over her head. She took aim and threw it. Blake slid down on her knees, bending backward to duck under Sayaka's swipe. While she was down low, Blake caught a glimpse of something very large flying overhead. Tomoko's giant weapon hit Sayaka in the face and knocked her to the ground, pinning her.

Over in the corner, their instructor was thinking and adding to the fight even as it went. He called into the fight. "Weiss is unable to remove herself from the battle. In a real life situation, this would make her a target. Your objective is now to defeat your enemy while protecting your helpless teammate. Failure to do so will weigh heavily on your grade."

Blake heard the announcement, and acted quickly. She jumped on top of Sayaka, who was still trapped under the crushing weight of Tomoko's cannons, and pressed Gambol Shroud's blade to the girl's neck. She called out to the instructor. "Dead!"

He saw what happened, and marked Sayaka appropriately. "You now have one teammate unconscious and one dead. It's looking grim, girls."

Blake looked down at Sayaka. "You're dead for the rest of the match." Then she moved on, leaving the girl to struggle with the hulking mass on top of her.

Kyoko smashed the shaft of her spear into Homura, knocking her back. In spite of critical levels, she was fighting fiercely and getting the upper hand. She jumped up over Homura's head and swiftly kicked her in the shoulder. On the other side of the arena, Agatha blocked volley after volley from Mami with well-placed shielding glyphs.

Seeing Homura needed more help, Blake rushed over to her just as Kyoko landed. The red-haired warrior spun and batted Homura into the wall. She turned just in time to see Blake's knee. Kyoko hit the ground, her depleted aura doing little to stop Blake's leaping attack, and a knee-shaped imprint found its place on her forehead.

The instructor called out. "One more down for the count. Homura Akemi, your aura is at a critical level. Withdraw or continue?"

Homura pulled herself to her feet. She looked up at Blake. Her team leader shook her head. Homura looked over to the instructor. "Withdraw."

He adjusted his glasses, and then marked down her decision. "Please remove yourself from the battlefield in order to withdraw."

As Homura disappeared in the blink of an eye, Agatha jumped back and away from Mami, their only remaining opponent. She landed right beside Blake, weapon at the ready. Tomoko hid behind them, glancing furtively towards her weapon.

Mami looked at her team. Weiss and Kyoko were out, and neither was going to be getting up any time soon. Sayaka, having gotten out from under the pair of cannons, was lounging around at the edge of the arena and enjoying her moment of temporary deadness. The match had gone to three against one in barely any time at all.

She gave her opponents a sad sort of smile. "Well, I guess there's only one thing left to do."

Agatha glanced sideways at Blake. "She's not going to forfeit now, is she?"

Blake smirked. "I sure hope not."

Mami brought her hands together in a clap, and then winked at them. Then she shouted. "Tiro Finale!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note: Tune in next time to find out what happens! *shot*<strong>


	5. Fluffy White Culprit

Blake wasn't sure what to think of Mami Tomoe. The girl seemed just too nice for it to be legitimate, yet everything said that it was all for real. Blake was seated on the edge of a bed in the infirmary, and Mami was now offering her a cup of tea. Blake accepted without thinking about it too much. She sipped the tea casually and placed it on the table beside the bed, then placed the ice pack she had been given on the side of her head.

Mami, still smiling, sat down on the next bed and did the same. "That was a clever move. I daresay Sayaka wouldn't even have thought of it."

Blake grinned. At the last moment before Mami used her 'Final Smash', as some boy in the crowd had dubbed it, Blake had run straight at her and tackled her to the ground. The two of them had hit the wall the next instant. All Blake knew was that Agatha was the last person standing. Their team had won, and in a way that left all of them technically 'alive' by their teacher's standards.

The worst of it was that Doctor Litchi, as she demanded they call her, claimed that they should stay in the infirmary for a few hours. Blake and Mami, as well as Tomoko, Kyoko, and Weiss, were all missing the last class. More grumbling from Professor Kokonoe, but Doctor's orders won at the end of the day. The five girls lounged about the room, mostly happy to skip the science class anyway.

Kyoko piped up from her bed, where she sat munching on some boxed snack she had obtained through questionable means. "Let's do this again tomorrow."

"Masochist." Weiss grumbled from her bed.

Kyoko lay back, enjoying the fluffy pillow her head landed on. "Beats going to science class, and fighting is fun. In fact, we should do this every day."

Weiss shouted over at her. "We would get failing grades!"

Mami broke it up quickly enough, probably practiced at keeping those two from clashing. She stopped it simply by addressing Tomoko. "That was some quick thinking, Kuroki-san. You did really good."

Tomoko rolled over and faced the wall, trying to disappear into the shadows of the darkest corner of the infirmary. Blake was surprised to find that it actually seemed to be working. Somehow, she was getting a bit less visible... but not terribly much.

Blake shook her head and turned back to Mami. "I'm not actually sure what happened, though, so you definitely shouldn't be congratulating me."

Mami smiled. Again. "Oh, but you gave your teammates an opening, and that won you the match."

The door to the infirmary burst open and the blue hair and bright white cape marked the entrance of Weiss' other teammate. Sayaka spread her arms wide to greet her team cheerily. "Marvelous performance, everyone! Especially Mami with her Tiro Failure! A round of applause to the lot!" She clapped and cheered them, and she sounded oddly earnest.

Blake noted the girl's tone. "That was remarkably lacking in sarcasm. How did you do that?"

Sayaka looked at her seriously. "I'll teach you later." She shook her head and smiled, laughing. "No, actually, that was the closest we've ever come to winning as a team. Mami usually misses with that last resort of hers anyway, and Kyoko hardly ever lasts that long. I thought it was really great. Though, I've never died before."

Homura walked in behind the girl and gave her a weird look. "You've never... oh, right." She looked over to Blake. "Classes are over now. Professor Hazama wanted to see us, remember? Tomoko, that means you too."

The two girls reluctantly stood up, making their way to the door. Blake stopped and turned back to Mami. "So then... maybe some one on one rematches are in order?"

Kyoko pumped her fist in the air from her bed. "More trips to the infirmary! Yes!"

Mami looked up while adjusting the hat Blake had never seen the blond take off. She smiled. Again. "Sure. Why not. We should test out pairs of partners as well."

Blake nodded, then left the team to themselves, following Homura and Tomoko out into the hall. Agatha was waiting for them, leaning against the wall. Together, the four girls headed to the elevator that would take them back up to Hazama's office, formerly Ozpin's office. The ride up was quiet, each member of the team thinking over what they had to deal with separately. Hazama had indicated that he could help them, and needless to say, they all had their doubts.

The door finally opened, and they made their way over to the desk. Hazama sat in his chair, calmly watching them until they stopped right on the other side of the desk. He stood up, looking at each of the girls in turn. "You've all been pulled into quite the strange adventure, haven't you?"

Blake looked down the line at the other girls, wondering exactly how much they had been through. She answered their new headmaster. "Yes sir, though I get the feeling I've gotten the least of it."

He nodded, looking straight at Blake with his yellow eyes. "Why don't we start with what you recognize as wrong with this world. Maybe we can work our way back to how this started."

She thought back, trying to recall everything that came to mind that might be different. "Well, for starters, my team stopped Roman Torchwick from stealing a large amount of dust, as I understand it. That was just last night, and I remember it all differently. It was myself and Sun who stopped Torchwick, with some help from Penny. My team, which is supposed to consist of Weiss, Ruby, and Yang, had been looking for me after I had run away because I accidentally revealed that I..."She looked over at her team, suddenly realizing she wasn't sure if they knew she was a Faunus.

Hazama picked up right away. "Right, that bow was keeping your being a Faunus secret. I assume they either caught you without it or..."

Blake sighed, turning back to the headmaster. "I got carried away arguing with Weiss. She doesn't particularly like the Faunus, and it didn't help that I used to be in the White Fang." She hoped the others already knew, or at least that it made no difference to them.

Hazama turned to Agatha. "Moving backwards, before Blake you were the newest addition to the small group of people here who actually remember the way things are supposed to be, right?"

Agatha nodded. "At the School For Good And Evil." She stopped, taking a close look at Hazama's face. "I remember you now. You taught some of the history of heroism classes when Professor Sader was busy with the Nevers. When did you get into all this?"

Hazama waved his hand. "We'll get to that in time. First, is there anything in particular you want to say about what you remember?"

Agatha thought for a moment, looking down at the desk in front of her. "Hmm... Well, at that school, what happened was I woke up one morning and suddenly Tomoko and Homura were my roommates. Before that, as I remember it, the girls who were supposed to be my roommates ran out on me because apparently I'm really scary. Those two just didn't care. Also, on a personal note, my best friend wasn't there anymore. She was there one day, and the next she was gone while a bunch of other people showed up out of nowhere."

Homura nodded, picking it up next. "Same for me, with the best friend thing. One day, I was going about my normal business hunting witches, and the next day there were all these other people I'd never seen before claiming that they were all significant to my life. I, uh..." She thought it over a moment before continuing. "All of the new teachers here were there too."

Agatha nodded. "Yeah, I remember seeing Mr. Shishigami and Professor Kokonoe before too, now that I think about it. There was also this kid, uh... Carl Clover."

The three girls looked over at their last teammate, and Tomoko turned ghostly white. Hazama motioned for them to give their attention to him. "Actually, I believe I'm next. Tomoko here appeared out of nowhere, as suddenly as you all say things changed. It happened like no one would have known her name if it was said, and then suddenly she was an integral part of everything going on. All the new teachers, and several other people you've seen, are from my world."

Tomoko sighed, causing everyone to look at her. She shrank down, but managed to speak. "I just... wanted friends..."

Hazama shook his head. "So what do you remember, then?"

Homura turned to face Tomoko, interrogating her. "You wanted friends? Friends like us?" Tomoko nodded, fidgeting nervously. Homura pressed on. "He came to you, didn't he? You made a contract, didn't you?"

Tomoko ducked down and covered her head. "I'm s-sorry! I just wanted to be important to someone! I just wanted friends to be with me!"

Hazama shot out of his seat. "Homura, what is she talking about?"

Homura's eyes were wide. "That's why... she met Kyubey, and she wished to be important to people who would be her friends... Kyubey can make wishes come true, no matter how impossible they seem. I think I know what happened. When she first appeared, everyone I knew said that the two of us were close friends. Madoka was supposed to be my best friend, but now she's gone."

Hazama grimaced. "If this Kyubey can grant wishes like that, then that explains why Tomoko was so important... and why Ragna was nowhere to be found."

Agatha spoke up. "So... so that's why Sophie disappeared overnight? Because Tomoko became my friend instead?"

Blake pondered this unusual line of thought. "I haven't noticed anyone missing here. Maybe... Penny or Sun?"

Agatha shook her head. "No, we did meet them, actually. You ran off with Sun when you thought we were mad about you having... cat ears. Honestly, until then, I didn't realize people here can have cat ears."

Homura nodded. "Yeah, that's new to me too. Anyways, I think I know what we need to do to fix all this." Tomoko was still ducked on the floor, whimpering like it was all her fault. Homura ignored her. "We find Kyubey and beat him to a pulp until he agrees to set everything back."

Hazama surprised the girls with a better idea. "Or, if what you say about him is true, all we need to do is have someone get him to grant a wish. Someone wishes that everything goes back to normal, and it's all over."

Homura rolled her eyes. "Well, that would be great, but me and Tomoko have already used up our wish. We're not going to get anyone who doesn't remember anything to wish for that, and he picks and chooses who even gets to see him." She narrowed her eyes at the man. "He only comes to teenage girls."

Hazama looked between Agatha and Blake. "So that means it's got to be one of you two, then."

Homura interrupted. "Ah, and one more thing. You're not just getting a free wish. You're making a contract. One wish comes true, no matter what it is, and then you have to work for him fighting witches. Your soul gets separated from your body and is contained within a soul gem. Most importantly, if your soul gem gets too polluted by negative emotions, you turn into a witch as well."

The five of them went into silence as the information sank in. Hazama sat down, trying to figure out how to work with what he had just learned. Blake and Agatha looked at each other, trying to work out who should make the evident sacrifice. Homura watched the two, trying to think of any way she could keep them from having to make a contract.

Suddenly, Tomoko jumped up shouting. "I'm going to turn into a WHAT?!"

Blake responded before Homura could. "When we fix everything, you'll go back to normal. You'll have nothing to worry about."

Agatha cut that line of thought before it could go further, addressing Hazama. "Aside from all that, there's something I've been wondering about. When everyone we know is carried over into the next world, it seems things that are common in the current world end up also common among everyone from previous worlds. For example, everyone had access to magic in the same way I did in my world. Now that's changed to aura and semblances."

Hazama nodded. "Yes, I believe that's correct."

Agatha shuffled her feet. "Well, I was wondering if... if that goes for being a Faunus as well." Blake shot her a look, and she explained. "Well, cause I noticed Professor Kokonoe has cat ears and... cat tails?"

Hazama laughed at this. "No, no, Kokonoe was always like that. But it does seem the nature of the world melds with the previous ones. Aura and semblance here have taken place of the various forms of magic we knew. Similarly, as you may notice, some of the people you knew in your own worlds are now Faunus."

Seemingly forgetting the serious nature of the conversation moments earlier, all three of Blake's teammates looked alarmingly preoccupied with that notion. Blake waited for one of them to speak what they were thinking, fearing the worst.

Agatha suddenly punched her fist into her other hand, a nefarious look on her face. "Tomorrow at Major Kisuragi's class we need to knock Mami's hat off. I want to see her kitty ears!"

Tomoko gasped. "I bet Yuu-chan has bunny ears!"

Blake watched in horror as they cheered together. "Banzai!"


	6. After School Scheme Time

"Wait, so let me get this straight." Agatha sat on her bed, previously Ruby's bed, her feet dangling beside Tomoko's face. She was trying to make sense of what they had figured out from their time in Hazama's office, formerly Ozpin's office. "A magical white space ferret grants you one wish, no matter how crazy or simple, and in return you have to fight the hideous monsters that previous girls who made this same deal eventually turned into."

Homura, sitting on her own bed, previously Yang's bed, with her legs tucked under her, nodded. "Sounds about right."

Blake, who was sitting cross-legged on Blake's bed, previously Blake's bed, looked across to Tomoko. "But when he offers this contract, he doesn't tell you about the part where you transform into one of these... witches."

Above Tomoko, Agatha shrugged. "Hardly makes a difference to me then. Why don't I just make a wish and send us all back where we came from. No real loss for me. I'm a self-sustaining girl and I can keep going, so even if my witchy-ness persists after everything is put back to normal, I'll be fine for a good long while."

Blake eyed her uncaring face. She looked away before Agatha caught her staring, but only needed to give it a few seconds of thought before speaking her mind. "I won't let you."

Agatha looked down at her, confused. "What? Why not? You heard what Homura said. It's either you or me. There's no way we can convince any of these idiots who don't remember anything to do it, and Hazama's out of the question because the space ferret apparently doesn't like men. If I want to do it, why can't I?"

Blake narrowed her eyes at her teammate. "Regardless of how it happened, I'm the team leader. If anyone is making the ultimate sacrifice, it will be me. That said..."

Homura picked up. "We can't risk it. We simply don't have enough information. If you, or Blake for that matter, make a contract with Kyubey you run the risk of becoming a witch."

Agatha nodded. "Like I told you. I don't have as much of a problem with that as you all seem to believe. I get what you've been saying. I'm saying I'm okay with that."

Homura shook her head. "I don't think you do get it, but that's irrelevant. Witches evolve over time, killing more and more people as they grow. Once they're big enough and have enough power, they could destroy your whole world. It may take a while, but you will eventually turn into one. When you do, there's only two things that can happen. You, as a witch, end up destroying the whole world, or Kyubey shows up and makes more contracts with other girls and they kill you and then turn into witches themselves. It's a downhill slide."

Agatha looked to be giving this some actual hard thought, but then she just shrugged. "Or I just die and then he doesn't show up."

Homura pointed down at Tomoko. "The fact that he found his way into Tomoko's world tells me he's more than capable of going wherever he wants. I think he can make it to your world, and he would thrive there. Same with Remnant, by the way."

Blake shuffled a bit closer to the edge of her bed, planting her feet on the floor. She spoke softly to Tomoko. "What exactly was your wish for? Just so we know what we're up against."

The nervous wreck of the group had long frozen up beyond the ability to look for a place to hide. Only the extra sweetness poured into Blake's voice managed to break her out of it a bit. She started with a stutter. "I j-j-just... I w-wanted to..."

Blake held up her hand. "Stop. Take a deep breath... or maybe a few deep breaths. Calm your nerves before answering."

"Easier said than done." Agatha pulled her feet up onto her own bed, sighing loudly as Tomoko struggled to speak. "She more or less shuts down when she's put on the spot. Near as we can tell, she's been getting better about it. As you can see, though... that doesn't count for too much."

After several minutes of silence while they waited, Tomoko finally managed to speak. The stutter was gone, indicating that she really had gotten more comfortable around the three girls since initiation. Probably forcibly. "I just... wished to be important to... everyone."

Homura hopped down and sat on the bookshelf, setting her glasses beside her. She looked to Blake. "With Kyubey, you pretty much have to think really hard about the exact wording of your wish." She looked back to Tomoko. "So, are you sure you used those words exactly?"

Tomoko shook her head. "No... I, uh... I wished to be important to people so I could be friends with people just like me."

Undoing the braids in her hair, Homura turned to Blake again. "So there you have it. Somehow, the three of us were roped into that wish."

Agatha called down from her bed. "I'm not exactly a nervous wreck. In fact, only Tomoko is. The three of us are fine, really."

Homura let out a harsh sigh. "And how do you get along with everyone where you're from?"

Taking it in stride, Agatha answered right away. "I hate them and they hate me, and that's pretty much all there is to it. I don't have a problem with it."

Blake caught on and changed the question posed. "More specifically, who do you talk to and how much?"

"Well..." Agatha stopped as quickly as she started. She eventually found words to say, but they came out slower and more cautious. "I talk with Sophie... I talked with Sophie. I talked to her pretty much every day. No one in my hometown or in the school really liked me so they didn't talk to me... I guess I had Sophie and that was it."

Blake cleared her throat. "When I was in the White Fang... even though I was among other Faunus, no one really talked to me much. I just had Adam, and he pretty much taught me how to survive."

Homura nodded. "It's something like that for me. I was a shy girl transferring into a new school, and Madoka became my friend. I mean, Sayaka and the others talked to me a bit, but I wasn't much more to them than Madoka's other friend. And then one day... Tomoko was there instead."

Agatha rested her head on her hands, looking over the edge of her bed at the others. "So if Tomoko took the places of the most important people in our lives, causing them to disappear, then that should mean she's sorta just like us."

"Well, let's think about it for a moment." Blake cleared her throat before continuing. "If you have two people who are actually very similar, but one lives a sheltered life with nothing to worry about in a technologically advanced world like the one Tomoko is from, and the other lives in a world like Remnant where they have to fight in order to stay alive, they will grow up to be quite different people. I think the basics of all our lives are the same, it's only how our personalities were cultivated by the world we lived in that makes us so different."

Homura looked up to Agatha. "That's about right. Which also means that Tomoko probably has a friend just like our friends."

The three girls looked to Tomoko, with Agatha pulling herself further over the edge of her bed so she could see. Tomoko caved. "I had Yuu... Yuu-chan. But each time we go to another world, we get farther apart. She barely knows me anymore."

Agatha suddenly fell off her bed, landing on the floor between the beds. Blake ignored her, looking over to Homura. "So how do we set this right?"

With her braids undone, Homura put her glasses back on and answered. "As hard as it may be, what we need to do is find Kyubey and get him to offer a contract to someone originally from my world. It is imperative then that that person makes a wish to set everything back the way it was originally. It will be incredibly difficult to get everything we need done right, but I think we can pull it off."

Sitting up, Agatha crossed her legs and posed an obstacle. "Aren't all the, uh, eligible girls from your world already out of the question? Didn't they already make contracts?"

Homura shrugged. "Their contracts may or may not persist from one world to the next, but you're right. With one exception. There is a girl I know who fits all the criteria, but of course getting her to do it isn't going to be easy."

* * *

><p>Four dark-haired girls peered around the corner in the hallway. Homura narrated quietly as they all watched the girl in question. "Hitomi Shizuki. Smart, kind, rich, and a prime target for depression. This last point makes her also a prime target for the likes of Kyubey. I don't know what made her apply to Beacon, but it severely damaged her relationship with her parents when she did. She is quite naive, but also our only hope."<p>

Blake whispered over to her partner. "I'm really starting to have my doubts about this plan."

Homura added one more small fact onto her spiel. "And she makes great tea."

Blake fixed her eyes on the green-haired girl they were all watching. "Let's go talk to her."

Agatha shook her head. "I still don't understand why she's our only choice."

Homura groaned. "Because, unless someone from my world does it, the witches won't be contained to my world. I can't risk them getting out and spreading to other worlds."

"Well, then let's go talk to her." Blake repeated her earlier suggestion. "You know, talk to her, sit down and chat, have some tea. Maybe have some tuna..."

Agatha knocked Blake's head with her own. "What are you on about?"

Blake knocked back. "What, you don't want tea?"

"I hate tea." Agatha rolled her eyes. "Whatever, let's see if we can cozy up to her then. Let's get this over with."

Homura seemed to think the plan over a bit. "Yeah, on second thought, maybe it would be best if Blake and I handled this. You two aren't really cut out for making fast friends."

"None of you girls are cut out for making friends at all." Blake quipped.

Agatha and Tomoko pulled back behind the corner, with the former responding to Blake's comment. "Shut up. I can make friends just fine. I just don't want any."

"Therein lies the problem, and the reason you're not coming." Blake stepped out and checked behind her to see how convincing a smile Homura was wearing. "And I'm honestly not sure you coming along is a good idea."

Homura's smile dropped instantly. "You're gonna need me. I know this girl much better than you do."

Blake shook her head. "Which might cause you to come off as someone who just wants something from her. You said she was rich, right? So she might get the idea that you know she's rich and automatically assume that you want something from her. I know how to treat her like a person other than just a rich person. I can treat her like an equal."

Agatha scoffed. "Yeah, but considering the whole deal with Faunus, for all we know she could be racist. People with green hair are always weird, too. You don't know what kind of skeletons she has in her closets."

Tomoko started cracking up suddenly. "Maybe... pfft... maybe the skeletons should... come out of the closets."

Homura glared at her. "Don't ever make jokes, Tomoko. You're bad at it."

Tomoko stopped her giggling, turning away. "At least I have a sense of humor."

"Burn." Blake was finding it a little difficult to keep herself from laughing.

Agatha turned to Blake. "Are you going or what?"

Blake turned to look back down the hallway ahead of her. "Oh, right. Yes, I'm about to. Just... keep out of sight, okay?" She started walking without waiting for them to answer, heading for the green-haired girl who could fix everything.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes: Yes, I know we're not exactly focusing on the other teams yet, but that will come on the second day. It will be fun. But first, we need to pester Hitomi some.<strong>


End file.
